"Village Children in Northern Pakistan"

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My name is Kathryn Besio and I'm a Ph.D. candidate in geography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Over the last three years (1996-98), I have been doing research in northern Pakistan in a region called Baltistan (http://www.pathfinder.com/travel/maps/PAKISTF.html). Baltistan is in the Karakoram mountain range. My research looks at some of the effects of tourism on villagers in Askole situated approximately 100 kilometers from the second highest peak in the world, K2 (elevation 8611 meters asl). Each year approximately a thousand adventure travelers, primarily mountain climbers and trekkers, pass through the village. Adventure travelers rely upon the labor of people in villages like Askole to carry their gear into the mountains. People who carry this gear are called porters. Although portering work is important to people in Askole, they also continue to maintain a land-based life style.

The people who live in Askole, approximately 500 persons, are primarily subsistence agriculturists and pastoralists who raise wheat, potatoes, goats and sheep for yearly consumption. They also raise yak and dzo for food and draft needs. Most of the villagers' food and fuel are met by using local resources and household labor, although many of the village men are working as porters to earn money in order to supplement subsistence demands with a small cash income. Cash is necessary to provide villagers with goods and services that include, but are not limited to: clothing and household items, children's education, medical care, and religious pilgrimages to Mecca.

My research specifically focuses on some of the effects of portering on women and children in the village, but also the importance of women's and children's work for the maintenance of Askole people's livelihood. Although women and children do not porter, their labors in the fields and pastures are essential to meeting subsistence needs. In addition to working on their family lands, some children in Askole go to school. Askole children's lives are filled with both play and work, although their lives are lived in an environment very different, both environmentally and culturally, from many children in the United States.

One of my goals in presenting this research is to talk with Hawaii school children about Balti children's lives. In the lessons I've designed with the help of the Hawaii Geographic Alliance, I address the commonality of experience between children here and in Baltistan, yet also how differences between children may also be perceived, hopefully leading to greater cross-cultural understanding. I am available to come and lead discussions and activities with Hawaii school children in November. If you would like more information about my research and information about me coming to visit your school, please contact Mary Frances Higuchi. I look forward to meeting some of you soon! Mahalo.

For lesson plan, click here.

Research support given by the Social Science Research Council and the National Science Foundation (award #9712017).